Stop the Compromising

I understand what President Obama is trying to do, I really do. He wants to move away from the politics of confrontation, to set a standard of reasoned discourse among all Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. He wants to rise above the hostility of at least the past eight years and show that with civility and hard work, people with opposing viewpoints can meet at a place that will benefit all Americans.

He is failing.

He is failing because, at least on the issue of health reform, some people are liars and other people are morons. It’s a nasty combination; it’s always been a nasty combination. These people–even when they know what they are talking about, which isn’t often–are not interested in the greater good; they’re interested in themselves.

Usually when I write things like this–when I dare to suggest that some folks blindly follow whatever emotional harangue they’ve most recently heard and shuck off any semblance of fact-checking–I get excoriated by some of the same people I’m talking about. “You’re just an elitist jerk,” they say. “Not everyone who disagrees with you is dishonest or stupid.”

Fair enough. So for you smart people out there, please understand that I’m talking about only the people who disagree with me who are dishonest or stupid.

Look, the brouhaha over the “death panel” is enough for any sane people to shrivel out of their skins. At least one version of the health bill–there are currently many–included a provision that doctors and counselors who provide valuable information to people concerned with end-of-life care would get reimbursed. Those who are facing–or whose loved ones are facing–terminal diseases benefit immensely from knowing their options. This is a good thing, as they themselves will tell you.

But Sarah Palin and others turn this into a “death panel.” They put the fear in impressionable–all right, I’ll say it, stupid–people that the government will install a group of professionals who will determine whether your grandparents will or will not receive care to keep them alive. Why? To save money, I guess. Their “reasoning” is hard to follow. Think about it: They’re saying that Democrats want old people to die. Gee, that makes sense. Those liberal strategists are really on the ball.

So Sarah Palin, a number of Republican Senators and Representatives, and vile creatures on Fox “News” propound the lie, based on absolutely no fact whatsoever. And cretins who are pissed off that Obama is president, resentful that others are more successful than they are, and generally discouraged with their lives, work themselves into a frenzy over it. They become apoplectic at hearing words like “Socialism.” They don’t really know what Socialism is; they just know it’s bad.

Meanwhile, those who need health care and can’t afford it continue to suffer.

Forget for a moment the legitimate arguments about the Congressional bills. And forget for a moment the ill-equipped funding system that fosters wayward thinking in our legislatures. Think about the underlying issue–whether people who have neither possession nor respect for the truth should be allowed to sabotage a bill that will benefit millions. These people should not be part of the deliberations, nor should they be able to influence those who are. Everyone has a right to an opinion; but not everyone’s opinion should be equally considered. That’s why five-year-old’s can’t vote.

It’s time to say, no more. No more trying to entice Republicans who show no good faith in the process of negotiation and compromise. No more trying to win over people who listen only to their internal demons and their external demagogues. No more kowtowing to those who are not willing to hunker down and get at the facts.

Certainly, there are those with good reasons to oppose the legislation. I’m all for hearing them out and for working with them. But the shameful circus of the past several months has to be ended. Take down the poles, tear down the tents. No more entertaining the Right Wing by pretending that everyone is on an equal footing.

We can’t always stop people from lying, and we can’t always teach people to think before they act. But even though our better natures command us to respect those people, to try to work with them, reason should prevail. We can’t always work with them. We have to do what’s right. Change the norms. Ask your friends to tell your legislators to ignore the nonsense and pass a bill that’s worthwhile.

And let the liars and the morons bay at the moon in their own festering despair.